Dolph Ziggler is one of the most talented and charismatic superstars on the WWE roster, former World Heavyweight Champion, multiple Intercontinental, so where is it going wrong?
For some reason, Dolph Ziggler is always the ‘almost’ guy, where he’ll reach a certain level within WWE and just never cross over to the other side. No matter how popular he is or how good his matches are, he’s never considered a ‘top guy’ within the company.
If ever there was an example of someone working their way up within a company, Dolph Ziggler is a classic example of this. After his involvement in the ‘Spirit Squad’ and a short stint as the caddy of Kerwin White (the gimmick Chavo Guerrero wishes we’d all forget), he finally started to climb the ladder on his own.
When you look at his accomplishments within the company, it’s easy to forget how long he’s been around for (he first appeared in 2005), and if you think about it, he’s been involved in some classic WWE moments.
Of course we all remember that moment, which was one of, if not the best Money In The Bank cash in ever, on RAW in April of 2013.
That thunderous ovation from the New Jersey crowd when his entrance music hit and out he stormed with Big E Langston and AJ Lee, whom he had formed a dominant trio with, and had the whole of the arena behind him in a moment that even looking back now almost 3 years later still gives me goosebumps.
After numerous failed cash in attempts within the weeks prior to this, Dolph successfully cashed in his Money In The Bank briefcase on Alberto Del Rio to become the World Heavyweight Champion, much to fans delight.
Unfortunately this World Heavyweight Title reign lasted just 69 days, which is still a good amount of time (especially considering the amount the title changed hands back then), but not enough to cement his position at the top of the ladder.
You could argue that the legitimate concussion which kept him out of action for a month was the downfall of his title reign, but the decision was made and he would go on to lose the title back to Alberto Del Rio in his first defense of the title, making him look like a weak champion.
You can even take Survivor Series 2014 as an example of how high up Ziggler was at one point, as the sole survivor of ‘Team Cena’, putting ‘The Authority’ out of power (with a little help from Sting). That was a huge deal, possibly the biggest storyline in the company at the time and really showed the story of an underdog fighting back against all odds.
Whilst Ziggler would win (and lose) the Intercontinental title again after Survivor Series, nothing really changed for him. He was beaten by Kane, Luke Harper and The Wyatt Family and his character stock was rapidly fading.
2015 was possibly the year it all started to fall apart for Dolph. Whilst he was involved in the IC title ladder match at Wrestlemania 31, he was again unsuccessful, and despite a thrilling encounter with Daniel Bryan the following night on RAW, he came off as the loser. Even after a (critically mixed) feud with the returning Sheamus, it was clear that Ziggler wasn’t in contention to be at the top of the WWE ladder, and while ‘The Celtic Warrior’ rose to the top of the WWE ladder, Ziggler’s position within the company would yet again stall.
A storyline that really damaged the Ziggler character was his feud which started in May with Rusev, where he would first win the girl (Lana) and then battle Rusev in her honour.
The problem with this angle is that the fans were never truly invested in it, and when the storyline started to pick up interest in October with Rusev aligning with Summer Rae, global media outlet, ‘TMZ’, broke the story of Rusev and Lana’s real life engagement, which promptly ended the whole feud.
This once again made Ziggler’s character look weak, as he had simply lost Lana back to Rusev without any real explanation (and rather than continue the angle, WWE chose to run with the TMZ story). It had been a waste of time for all participants in the storyline, and furthered nobody, and wasted over 5 months of the fans time.
Ziggler then began a feud with the debuting Tyler Breeze, which, although provided some entertaining matches, ultimately has done nothing for either worker. His on/off battle as of late with Kevin Owens has proved to be a hit with fans, but has done much more for Owens’ progression than it has for Dolph.
The fans have stopped cheering for Dolph, and this is of no fault of his, this is down to the poor booking of his character.
When Ziggler’s music hits, fans don’t jump to their seats as much, and why should they? They simply can’t get behind a guy that offers no end result to them.
You can compare this situation with that of Zack Ryder’s, who was incredibly popular at one point, but eventually due to poor booking, fans grew tired of cheering someone who never finished the story as a hero, and rather, a continuous fallen underdog.
So what can be done with Dolph Ziggler? The answer I think is very clear, he needs a heel turn. I’m never one for just turning characters simply to freshen them up, but I don’t think Ziggler suits being a face, he is much more suited to the cocky, arrogant ‘show-off’ character which gained him so much popularity in the first place.
Fans need something to really get behind again, fans need a reason to invest in Dolph Ziggler again, and even if that means pressing the reset button, in the long run it will give him the opportunity to ‘show the world’ what he can really do.
What are your thoughts?
Leave a comment below, or tweet me @kieranthekiz
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